Top 3 Fire-Resistant Building Materials

Top 3 Fire-Resistant Building Materials

With fire risks being something all builders are aware of, building your structure with fire resistant building materials can help prevent losses. We’ve outlined the best fire resistant building materials for your structure.

1. Fire-resistant windows

If a fire is to happen, windows can help to keep the fire contained and stop it from spreading. As soon as these break, the fire can easily enter a building. Fire resistant windows can help to give you more time to protect yourself. For example, getting dual-paneled glass windows will double the time it takes for fire to break the windows. Tempered glass is also a good option, as it is heat-treated to make it four times stronger than regular glass. Making small changes like this will give you more time to get out and get help.

2. Concrete

As well as being one of the most common building materials, concrete is also very fire-resistant. It is more fire-resistant than steel, and it’s often used to protect steel from fire; this is due to its low thermal conductivity. It takes a long time before fire affects its structure and load-bearing ability.

It’s also great to use on your roof, to help make your roof fire-resistant. This is often overlooked when it comes to ensuring your home is fire-resistant as possible, so it’s an important aspect of your home that shouldn’t be forgotten. When using concrete, it’s also a great idea to utilize recycled concrete in an effort to be green as well.

3. Brick

Bricks are made in a fire kiln, which makes them highly resistant to fire, and is noted as one of the most effective fire-resistant building materials. Individual bricks are usually more fire-resistant on their own than when in a wall, but that doesn’t stop them from being a great option. There are things to consider that will make a brick wall more or less fire-resistant, and this includes the construction and thickness. Depending on this, the wall can have a 1-hour to 4-hour fire-resistance rating.

Do you use fire-resistant building materials? Tell us in the comments below!